Monday, November 24, 2014

Week 24: Salutations and Exhortations from King Benjamin :)‏

Hello form Asia! Korea, 천안, to be more specific. Life is good.

Though it is raining. I love the rain, but Korean rain is a
little less fun because you need an umbrella. Why? Because of acid rain. It's
no good. I have to use an umbrella for fear of losing hair. It's serious. My
companion Elder Hollingsworth doesn't use umbrellas well and it shows..
(#recedinghairline #reallyprettyfunnyandtrue)

Anyway, I was reading in Mosiah today and was really
impressed by King Benjamin (more so if you read of his sweet deeds in the Words
of Mormon. He was a boss. A king so that would be obvious, but he also was the
definition of gallant.) I don't have a lot to report from my life in the Orient
and I wanted to share with you my thoughts from Mosiah 2.

This is a new insight for me concerning the Holy Ghost. King
Benjamin says "if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has
been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that
it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths that ye may be
blessed, prospered, and preserved--I say unto you, that the man who doeth this,
the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey
the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore the Lord
has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy places."

Prior to this Benjamin taught his people to keep the
commandments, to avoid contention because it's of the devil, and "to
render to God all that you have and are". God has given us what to do
through his holy prophets and if we fail to do them, if we are disobedient or
contentious, or fail to give God what is rightly his in the first place, then
we learn from kin Benjamin that we offend the Spirit and it leaves us. BUT, the
spirit doesn't move. God's standard is fixed, he is always there and always
available. His arm are always outstretched, ready to receive, and pour out the
"immediate" blessing that Benjamin mentions in verse 24. When we
offend the Spirit , we leave. We turn away from God, we rebel against His set
standard. We let go of the rod and start drifting; without the security that
comes from keeping covenants we are subject to the devil: we begin to dwell in
unholy temples. This is heavy stuff! We are talking about eternal consequences
here! the consequences that come from our little mistakes--but they aren't
little, they're wrong!

We can't forget which way we face. We can't leave the Spirit
of the Lord. It guides us in wisdom's paths and it is there that we "may
be blessed, prospered, and preserved."

Whoever made the shirt with Darth Vader that said "come
to the dark side...we have cookies", was spot on. In this life always
choosing right is hard because wrong often seems more fun. I mean, the great
and spacious building probably has a killer hot tub (you know, heated by
hellfire and brimstone) and they all wear nice jackets. The point is, it looks
nice, and it might even feel nice really nice at first, but it is not right.
Happiness, real lasting happiness and joy only come through righteousness.
We've got to be good for goodness sake or shoulder the consequences.

This is heavy stuff--but we're talking about the weight of
glory and the kingdom of God! Let's all face God, keep the commandments, and
keep doing it until the end. It will all be worth it. Remember this because it
is true. (Mosiah 2:41)